The Star-News

'Long Jaw' goes to prison

The "Long Jaw Bandit" who held up 12 South Bay businesses and 23 more elsewhere was sentenced Aug. 20 to 20 years in state prison and ordered to pay $16,133 in restitution to the stores.

Roger Bruce Jones, 45, of Tijuana, told San Diego Superior Court Judge Eugenia Eyherabide he was not armed during any of the 35 robberies that were committed between Aug. 11 and Dec. 20, 2009.

Deputy District Attorney Allison Worden said many of the young cashiers in the businesses were traumatized and they did not know whether he was armed or not. She recommended a 39-year sentence, while the probation department recommended 15 years.

Jones' attorney, Jeff Carver, urged a six-year term, saying he committed the crimes because he became "disabled and out of work." Carver said "a garage door fell on him" before the crime spree and he committed the hold-ups due to desperation, disability and a drug addiction.

"He was a slave to methamphetamine. It set him spinning out of control," said Carver, who added he believed Jones was "salvageable."

"My actions are inexcusable. I did not mean to put anyone's life at risk," said Jones. "I will never ever harm another human being.

Law enforcement dubbed the "Long Jaw Bandit" series because of a "pronounced jaw" that victims described to police, said Worden.